Why Hiring Experienced Salespeople Doesn’t Guarantee Success
Over 20 years ago, I recruited six experienced commercial real estate brokers from a competitor that had recently closed.
They were casting about for the right place to land, and I was excited about the opportunity. Many had substantial industry experience, and I looked forward to creating opportunities for them at our company.
Unfortunately, it turned into a disaster.
We provided everything they needed: office space, tools, and a strong operating foundation. They had extensive client databases and proven track records. Yet despite their experience and motivation, very few closed a single deal during the three to four years they worked with us.
What Went Wrong?
Looking back, I’ve wondered what caused this failure to launch:
Did I fail as a leader?
Was the economy to blame?
Should I have conducted more thorough due diligence on their actual performance?
Did we lack critical tools or resources?
What Could We Have Done Differently?
The questions haunted me:
Could stronger leadership have made the difference?
Should we have administered skills assessments before hiring?
Would ongoing training have improved their success rates?
Did they need weekly sales meetings and one-on-one coaching?
Were interest rates simply too high for anyone to transact?
It was a challenging economic period, and we may have recruited at the wrong time. However, there’s always some sales volume in any market. The real issue was that their client relationships didn’t transfer. Could we have tested for that?
I’ll admit my mistakes. I didn’t sit down with each broker to establish annual goals. I didn’t probe deeply into their active pipeline or verify which client relationships were truly portable. I assumed their experience meant they knew what to do and would simply execute.
The good news: we successfully recruited six talented professionals who became valued team members. The bad news: something prevented them from achieving success with us.
Lessons Learned
This experience taught me several critical lessons:
Conduct rigorous due diligence. I should have requested documentation of their revenues, client lists, and deal pipelines. A visit to the title company would have revealed their actual closing volumes over the previous year or two, as well as overall market transaction levels.
Use available data tools. Twenty years ago, we lacked resources like CoStar that now provide three-year histories of brokers’ listings and closings. Today’s tools enable far more informed hiring decisions. I would conduct significantly more due diligence before recruiting anyone.
Recognize the true investment. Recruiting requires substantial energy, but the time invested after hiring far exceeds what you spend on recruitment and due diligence. When you’re close to bringing someone aboard, take the time to truly understand them and verify they can succeed in your environment.
Factor in market conditions. If the marketplace shows limited transaction volume on the horizon, consider waiting to expand your team. If brokers can’t succeed with you, they’ll leave for greener pastures. Your job is to ensure that from day one, they can generate income and serve both your clients and their own.
Don’t assume experience equals success. The biggest lesson: experienced doesn’t mean successful in a new environment. Past performance, while important, must be verified and contextualized. The ability to transfer relationships and adapt to a new platform is just as critical as years in the business.
The recruiting process isn’t just about filling seats—it’s about ensuring mutual success from the start.
Clifford A. Hockley is Principal Broker at SVN | Bluestone, as well as the managing member of Cliff Hockley Real Estate Consulting, LLC. As a Certified Property Manager & Designated Managing Broker, Cliff has 41 years of experience in the brokerage and management of Real Estate companies. Bluestone and Hockley Real Estate Services manages condominium associations, multi-family, and commercial properties in the greater Portland area. He was focused on running the company and involved with investment property brokerage. He worked with financial institutions, governmental agencies, private investors, and not for profit organizations. He also has vast knowledge in budgeting, organizational management, and building structures. His previous experience includes over five years in accounting, production supervision for a manufacturing company, and work for state agencies in California.
Cliff grew Bluestone and Hockley Real Estate Services into a 100 employee company that managed over 2 billion dollars of real estate assets before he sold the company in 2021. He also supervised a sales team of over 15 real estate brokers for over 35 years. His monthly newsletter, QuickFacts has over 2,300 subscribers. He has been involved in numerous real estate transactions that include industrial, retail, office, and multifamily properties. Cliff has also written a book called “Successful Real Estate Investing; Invest Wisely, Avoid Costly Mistakes and Make Money” published by Morgan James Publishing in 2019.
Cliff has successfully coached real estate investors and CEOs located throughout the United States since 2015. He has acted as a sounding board to help untangle knotty issues that need an experienced outside opinion. He guides leaders who find it is “lonely at the top” and need an experienced hand to help set a strategic direction, sort out operational problems and want to talk through challenging business decisions.
He has served as an adjunct professor at Portland State University from 2028 – 2021, teaching classes in: Intro to Real Estate, Basic Real Estate Finance, Property Management as well as Real Estate Investment Fundamentals. He has instructed hundreds of students and believes that substantial preparation and active student engagement are crucial for learning and appreciating the field of real estate. Students appreciate his candor and real-world experience.
Among his many civic activities, Cliff served on the Board of Directors for the Portland Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) and the Rental Housing Alliance of Oregon. In 2014 he was recognized by IREM as board member of the year, and in 2015 he earned an achievement award in brokerage from SVN International. In the years 2000 & 2003, he was recognized by IREM as Certified Property Manager of the Year.
